Flaws in Blockbuster's Revival

Blockbuster must be thinking something like this: Netflix and Blockbuster offer the same thing in online DVD rentals. Therefore, Total Access makes Blockbuster more attractive than Netflix. Therefore, Blockbuster can woo Netflix members over, then raise fees because everyone will understand it's fair to pay a premium for the better service.

And therein lies the weakness of Total Access. First of all, Netflix and Blockbuster are not equal online. Compete.com shows just how much more "long-tailish" (selling less of more) Netflix is than Blockbuster: 3% of Blockbuster DVD rentals were one title, The Illusionist, vs. 0.5% at Netflix.

In fact, there were nearly as many Netflix rentals of the 2005 movie Crash (0.4%) as there were of the recent DVD release of Crank (0.5%). Over at Blockbuster, 2.5% of rentals were for Crank.

This is important, because as more people wake up to the lure of the "long tail" of movies, the more Netflix's broad selection will become useful, and the less the narrow selection of Blockbuster stores will be in demand.

A more thorough summary can be found on the LAist blog. These gripes reflect those of other renters: poor search, even worse recommendation software and longer turnaround times than even the throttle-prone Netflix.

Poor turnaround has become an especially sore point for Blockbuster subscribers, just as the company is surveying them on how much they'd enjoy a fee hike. First reported on HackingNetflix and later expanded on tech-news site Ars Technica, an apparent glitch has prevented some Blockbuster renters from receiving movies from their online queues for as long as two weeks.